The new oldest person is the world is Jeralean Talley from the Inkster, Michigan, who is due to turn 116 on May 23, and enjoyed blaying bowls until she was 104.

Mrs Weaver was aware of her unique status, the centre said, according to the Washington Post.

Former record holder Misao Okawa died on April 1 (Picture: Reuters)

‘She knew that she was the oldest person in the world, and she enjoyed that distinction greatly. She enjoyed every phone call, every letter, every comment. Everything was read to her,’ Kathy Langley, administrator of the Center, told the Post.

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Weaver was born in 1898, the youngest of six children, and was the daughter of sharecroppers.

She once told an Arkansas newspaper that her longevity was due among other things to ‘treating everybody good,’ the Post said.